Roma
Roma Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Playing Equipment
- 52 playing cards – 32 character cards and 20 building cards
- 6 dice discs – show from 1 to 6 dots
- 1 "money" disc – shows coins, Roman sestertii
- 1 "card" disc – shows the symbol to draw new cards.
- 36 victory points – divided up into one-point and two-point cards.
- Money – the sestertii are used to pay for laying the cards.
- 3 action dice in each of the players' colours – they are needed to activate cards, take money or draw new cards.
- 1 white battle die – to determine the outcome of the battles.
- 1 set of instructions
Character cards are yellow. Building cards are green.
Each card shows:
- The price of the card when it is laid.
- The defence value; if this value is equalled or bettered in a battle, the card must be discarded.
- The title of the card.
- A piktogram, giving details on what the card does.
A symbol on the card shows that 1 die is required to activate the card. A card without this symbol does not need any die to be rolled – it stays activated for as long as it is laid. Some cards (such as Turris) require 2 dice: one to activate it and another die which determines how many victory points the player receives.
Getting Ready to Play
First the play area is set up. The 6 dice discs are laid in ascending order in a row between the two players. The "money" and "cards" discs are laid at either end.
The players each receive 10 victory points and the 3 action dice in the colour of their choice.
The money, the remaining 16 victory points and the battle die are laid ready.
All the cards are shuffled. Each player receives 4 cards in his hand. Each player gives the other player 2 cards face-down. The remaining cards are placed in a pile face-down on the table. Cards which are discarded during the game are placed face-up to form a joint discard pile.
The younger player is the starting player and begins. This player lays his cards face-down on his side of the play area. When laying the cards, the players have a free choice as to which card they put next to which dice disc. However, it is not allowed to have more than 1 card next to any dice disc on either player's side.
The other player then lays his 4 cards on his side. As with the first player, this player can also choose any 4 of the dice discs. Both players then turn their cards over and the starting player begins the game.
Note: the starting player has to put 2 victory points back in the stockpile during his first go as he only has 4 cards at the start which means that only 4 dice discs are occupied.
How to Play
The players take it in turns to make a complete move. A move is made up of 3 phases, which are carried out in the following order:
- Phase 1: Add up score for unoccupied dice discs
- Phase 2: Throw the dice
- Phase 3: Carry out the actions
Phase 1: Add up score for unoccupied dice discs
If not all the dice discs are occupied by the player's own cards, the player whose turn it is has to put 1 victory point back in the general stockpile for every unoccupied dice disc on his side.
Phase 2: Throwing the dice
The player throws his 3 action dice. If all three dice show the same number, the player can throw (all three dice) again.
Note: it may be of advantage for the player to accept a throw where all three dice show the same score. The player must decide based on the situation in the game.
Phase 3: Carrying out the actions
There are 4 possible types of action which can be carried out. It does not matter how many times or in what order they are carried out.
No dice are used to:
- Lay cards
However, this action costs money, the exact amount depends on the card.
One action dice is required for each of the three actions:
- Take money
- Take card(s)
- Activate a card
The player decides which of the dice scores thrown in phase 2 he wants to allocate to which of the different actions. It is not possible to divide up the score on one particular die or to allocate one dice score to more than one action.
The actions in detail:
Laying cards
Cards are taken from the player's hand and placed face-up. When laying a card, the player always has to allocate the card to a dice disc. Cards are only placed on the player's own side.
Covering cards – If a player wants to lay his card next to a dice disc which has already got a card next to it, the card which is already there is removed and put on the discard pile.
Laying a card costs the number of sestertii shown on the card. A player is only allowed to lay the card if the complete amount has been paid. The money is put in the general stockpile.
Example: playing the "Aesculapinum" card costs 5 sestertii.
Taking money
A player puts one of their action dice on the "money" disc and takes the number of sestertii shown on the die from the stockpile.
Example: if the player throws a "6" and allocates this score to the "Take money" action (money disc), the player receives 6 sestertii from the stockpile.
Taking card(s)
The player places one of their action dice on the "Cards" disc and draws the number of cards scored with the die. The player keeps 1 of these cards in their hand, the rest are discarded face-up.
If the pile has been used up, the discarded cards are mixed and placed face-down to form a new pile.
Players can have as many cards in their hands as they want.
Example: a "4" was allocated to this action. The player can therefore draw 4 cards from the pile and choose one of them.
Activating a card
The player puts one of their action dice on the dice disc showing the same score.
This activates the player's card lying next to this disc, i.e. the instructions on the card are carried out.
If more than one die shows the same score, the card can in turn be activated more than once.
Example: the player has rolled a "3" and uses this to activate his "Onager" card and attack one of the opponent's cards. Battle commences …
[The instructions for each individual card are given in detail in the Cards section below.]
Battle
Some cards enable the player to attack the opponent's cards. If there is a battle, the player whose turn it is – this player is always the attacker – throws the battle die once. If the player rolls a score equal to or higher than the defence value of the card under attack, the attacker wins and the card is discarded. In all other cases nothing happens.
Example: the player rolls a "4" with the battle die, the defence value of the opponent's card is only "3"; the card has been beaten and has to be discarded.
Note: attacking and defence values can be changed by laying more cards. All changes are always taken into consideration.
Note: the following cards can start a battle: Legionarius, Velites, Centurio and Onager. The Sicarius, Gladiator and Nero cards also have an effect on the cards the opponent has laid; they do not, however, result in a battle.
If a player has ended their turn, i.e. all their actions have been carried out, play passes to the other player.
Example of a complete move:
It is Stefan's go. After he has handed back 1 victory point (1 unoccupied dice disc), he throws his dice: he gets a "3", a "4" and a "6". He decides to carry out the following actions.
- He uses his "3" to draw three cards. He keeps one of these in his hand (a "Legat"). Both the other cards are discarded.
- He uses his "6" to take money from the stockpile; this means he receives 6 sestertii.
- He plays a card (the "Legat" he has just drawn) by laying it next to the dice disc with four dots. He does not need a die for this. He pays the price shown (5) and gives the corresponding number of sestertii back to the stockpile.
- He now uses his last die (the "4") to activate the "Legat" card next to the 4. This wins him 2 victory points in this case.
End of the Game
The game ends immediately if one of the following two events occurs:
- a player has no victory points left;
- there are no victory points left in the stockpile.
The player with the most victory points wins.
Note: if there are not enough victory points left in the stockpile for the last payout, the missing points are credited to the respective player.
Cards
Each entry below gives the card's price / defence value, its effect, and how many copies are in the game.
Character Cards (yellow)
Sicarius (price 9, defence 2) – Eliminates an opposing, face-up character card. The opposing card and the Sicarius are both discarded. [1x in the game]
Architectus (price 3, defence 4) – Enables the player to lay as many building cards as they wish free of charge. The player is allowed to cover any cards. [2x in the game]
Consiliarius (price 4, defence 4) – The player picks up their character cards and can then lay them again on any dice disc. Buildings can be covered. [2x in the game]
Legat (price 5, defence 2) – A player gets 1 victory point from the stockpile for every dice disc not occupied by the opponent. [2x in the game]
Gladiator (price 6, defence 5) – An opponent's face-up character card (chosen by the player whose turn it is) must be returned to the opponent's hand. [2x in the game]
Mercator (price 7, defence 2) – For 2 sestertii each, the player can buy 1 victory point from their opponent as long as there are money and victory points left! The opponent gets the money. [1x in the game]
Consul (price 3, defence 3) – The score on an action die which has not yet been used can be increased or decreased by 1 point. [2x in the game]
Legionarius (price 4, defence 5) – Attacks the opponent's card which is directly opposite, whether it is a character or a building card. [3x in the game]
Nero (price 8, defence 9) – Destroys any face-up opposing building card. The destroyed card and Nero are both discarded. [1x in the game]
Praetorianus (price 4, defence 4) – Any of the opponent's dice discs can be blocked for one go. [2x in the game]
Scaenicus (price 8, defence 3) – Performs no action of his own but can copy the action of any of the player's own face-up character cards, and the next time round that of another. [2x in the game]
Haruspex (price 4, defence 3) – The player can choose any card from the pile of face-down cards and add it to their hand. Afterwards the pile is shuffled. [2x in the game]
Senator (price 3, defence 3) – Enables the player to lay as many character cards as they wish free of charge. The player is allowed to cover any cards. [2x in the game]
Velites (price 5, defence 3) – Attacks any opposing character card (does not have to be directly opposite). The battle die is thrown once. [2x in the game]
Essedum (price 6, defence 3) – The defence value of the opponent's face-up cards is reduced by 2. [2x in the game]
Tribunus Plebis (price 5, defence 5) – The player gets 1 victory point from their opponent. [2x in the game]
Centurio (price 9, defence 5) – Attacks the card directly opposite, whether it is a character or building card. The value of an unused action die can be added to the value of the battle die (the action die is then counted as used). This is decided after the battle die has been thrown. [2x in the game]
Building Cards (green)
Aesculapinum (price 5, defence 2) – The temple of Asculapius (the God of healing) enables the player to pick up any character card from the discard pile and add it to their hand. [2x in the game]
Basilica (price 6, defence 5) – If a Forum is activated (it must lie directly next to the basilica), the player gets 2 more victory points. The Basilica itself is not activated. [2x in the game]
Machina (price 4, defence 4) – The player picks up their building cards and lays them again on any dice discs. Character cards can be covered. [2x in the game]
Forum (price 5, defence 5) – Requires 2 action dice: one to activate the Forum and the other to determine how many victory points the player receives. [6x in the game]
Mercatus (price 6, defence 3) – The player gets 1 victory point for every face-up Forum that the opponent has. [2x in the game]
Onager (price 5, defence 4) – This Roman catapult attacks any opposing building. The battle die is thrown once. [2x in the game]
Templum (price 2, defence 2) – If a Forum is activated (it must lie directly next to the Templum), the third action die can be used to determine the number of additional victory points which the player gets from the general stockpile. The action dice must not yet have been used in this go. The Templum itself is not activated separately. [2x in the game]
Turris (price 6, defence 6) – As long as the Turris is face-up, the defence value of all the player's other face-up cards increases by 1. [2x in the game]